Prcess of rolling rail-joint bars.



W; I. BRADLEY! PROCESS OF ROLLING RAIL JOINT BARS,

APPLICATION FILED JAN.29I I918,

1,277,287, Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

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w. J. BRADLEY. PROCESS OF ROLLING RAIL JOINT BARS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN-29. l9iB| Patented Aug. 27, 1918.

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'WILLIAM J. BRADLEY, OF TROY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE RAIL JOINT COMPANY,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

raocnss or ROLLING RAIL-JOINT Bans.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented A110". 27, 1918.

' Application filed January 29, 1916. Serial No. 75,050.

To all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM J. BRADLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Troy, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Rolling Rail-Joint Bars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of rail-joint bars of the type having a railsupporting base-member which is provided at its inner edge with a reinforcement 'usually in the form of a rib.

The invention has for its object a simple an economical process by means of which rail-joint bars of the character referred to can be successfully and commercially manufactured in the passes of a rolling mill. To this end the inventioncontemplates a process of making a rail-joint bar with a reinforced base-member .by a continuous operation, while at the same time shaping and so disposing the metal in the bar as it progresses through the various passes as to secure the proportional distribution of metal to the best possible advantage without weakening the bar'at any point. More'specifically, the

invention has in view'a thoroughly practical and commerclal process for manufacturlng the well-known'continuous type of ran-Joint barf whose base-member is provided with a rib orequivalent reinforcement, usually at its inner lower edge.

The process of the invention may be carried out in different ways without departing from the spirit or principle thereof,

but as a preferred example of progressively developing the metal shape in the passes of a rolling mill, a preferable and practical means of employing the process is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figurel is a sectionalelevation of a set of finishing rolls of a rolling mill having the several passes thereof specially designed for carrying out the present process.

Fig.2 is an end view of the metal shape or bar as delivered from the initial or primary pass of the rolls.

' Fig. 3 is a" side elevation of the metal shape or bar shown in "Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end View of the metal shape or bar illustrating the same as affected by an intermediate finishing pass of the finishing rolls; a

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the metal shape or bar'shown in Fig. i.

Fig. 6 is an end view of, the metal shape or bar as affected by the leader pass of the set of rolls.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the metal shape shown in Fig. 6.

I i Fig. 8 is an end view of the metal shape or bar as delivered from the final pass of the set of rolls, showing the bar finished as to size and shape.

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the metal shape or bar shown in Fig. 8. a

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the bar section in the shape as delivered from the final pass of the rolls, but illustrating the shearing step of the process which severs thebar into rail joint lengths; this view also indicating by dotted lines that step of the process wherein portions of the reinforcing rib toward both ends of the joint are sheared ofi'.

Fig. 11 is an end View showing by dotted and full lines, respectively, the final step of the process which consists in bulldozing or bending the base-member into its final rail-setting position.

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the rail-joint bar entirely finished with the exception of the punching for bolt-holes which may be made before or after the severing of the bar 'into rail-joint lengths.

carried through the passes of the finishing rolls. The metal shape at this primary stage of the present process" includes, in generaloutline and unfinished form, the splice-mem-' her a, the inclined foot-flangeb, the base-' member 0, disposed at'an' angleto its final plane, and an enlarged rib or bulb 0Z- projecting to one side of the base-member 0,

from the inner edge portion of the latter. This particular metal shape, containing a surplusage of metal at all points, is only of approximate "form and" size and is given this character in what may be termed the initial pass 1 of a set of finishing rolls A, B and C.

The walls of the initial pass 1 of the finishing rolls have the structural characteris .in' an unfinished form.

tics of the metal shape shown inFigs. 2"and 3 of the drawings, and the walls ofthe next succeeding or intermediate pass 2 ofthe said rolls have the structuralcharacteristics of the bar or shape shown in Fig. 4 of the plane. The next or leader pass 3 of the finishing rolls brings the metal shape still nearer to its final size and, form by distributing the metal in such a manner as to substantially'reduce the several members of the bar to very nearly thefifinal proportional thicknessthereof, although, it will be ob served .that the leader. pass of the finishing rolls still leaves theenlargement or rib cl The said metal shape as delivered from the leader pass 3 of the finishing rolls is shown in F ig. 6 of the drawings and the shape as delivered from the final pass i of the rolls is shown in Fig. 8 o'fthe drawings. The final pass 4c completes the distribution of metal in the bar and gives the final shape and size to the various'parts, it being observed from the series of Figs. 2, 4, 6 and 8 that there is a gradual and progressive development of the rib (Z from the rather crude bulbous reinforcement of Fig. 2 into the relatively narrow and deep flange-like rib of Fig. 8, this final structural characteristic of said rib being produced by the shape of the pass walls of the final pass 4: of the rolls.

With the 'bar finished as to its shape and proportional distributionof metal, as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings, the base-member 0 isstill in its openposition, displaced a distance from the final rail-seating plane thereof, and the next step inthe iprocess is to sever the bar into rail-jointlengths That step ,ofthe process isillustrated by the view in Fig. 10 of the drawings-and is preferably performed by shearing knives which can be utilized with thebasememjberc in the open position referred to- The rail-joint bar has now been finished except n two particulars: First, as to dlsposmgthe r1b pro ectlon d along the central portioniof the bar only, and, second, the closingl." of the base-member to its final position. v I V j Accordingly, a further step in the process is the novel operation of eliminating the ribprojection alongfthe oppositeend portions of the bar, whereby a ribprojection will be EWas-hington, I1). C.

leftonly along the central portion of the bar. This may be conveniently accomplished by shearing-01f those portions of the rib which lie along both end portions of the bar, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 10, with the result of leaving a centrally disposed rib rojection as plainly shown in 12-01? the drawings.

The shearing-off of end portions of the rib projection is preferably done with the base portion still in the open position, referred to, and when that step in the process has beencompleted the'jfinal operation is that of bulldozin or bending thebase-member into its closed or final rail-seating and supporting position. This is shown by the, i u lllines in Fig. 11 of the drawings, and the signature in the dotted lines'in the latter figure, as well as in Fig. 12, indicate the position of thebasemember and its reinforcement prior to the closing of the base-member.

As alreadv indicated, it is to be under stood that other means or 'instrumentalities may be employed to carry out the herein described process without departing from the spirit or principle of the invention, the herein described instrunientalities being simply used as an illustration of one method by which the process may be performed.

I claim, 7 j 1. A process of making bars for rail joints which consists in subjecting'a metal blank to a rolling operation producing a bar-shape having angularly disposed members one of which is formed at its edge with a continuous projection of metal, and subsequently removing sections of said projection of metal along po nts corresponding to the end por- ,.tions'fot' the finished rail joint length.

to a rolling operation producing a bar-shape having angularly related members one of which is formed at its edge with a' continuous projection of metal, then severingthe said bar shape into rail'joint lengths, next ren'ioving portions bf said projection of metal along opposite end portions of the bar, and subsequently displacing 'saidmember with its edge projection of metal'into its final rail seating'plane, H V

In testimony whereof Ihereunto 'affixmy j presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. BRADLEY. [Ls] Witnesses V 7 JOHN N. PEoK,

Jos. l3. OBRIEN.

addressing the Commissionerof Patents, 

